A new YouGov survey explored which states Americans are most likely to view favorably — and unfavorably. More Americans view Hawaii favorably — and very favorably — than any other state. And fewer Americans have a favorable view of Washington, DC than of any state.
Hawaii leads the 50 states in the share of Americans who view it very or somewhat favorably (68%) and in the percentage who view it very favorably (36%). Following Hawaii in the share of Americans with a favorable opinion are North Carolina (62%), Alaska (61%), Tennessee (60%), and Colorado (59%). Hawaii also leads every other state in net favorability — the share of Americans who view it favorably minus the share who view it unfavorably. Hawaii's +53 leads Alaska (+47), Montana (+45), and North Carolina (+45).
Only 37% of Americans have a favorable opinion of the District of Columbia, while, behind the least-popular states of Mississippi (38%) and Rhode Island (44%). 36% view it unfavorably. The net favorability of the nation's capital (+1) also is lower than that of every state.
While 19% of Americans have very unfavorable views of Washington, DC, more do for California (25%) and Alabama (20%). New York and Florida are viewed very unfavorably by 19% each.
Among people who live in cities, 38% have a very favorable view of Hawaii. 36% have a very favorable opinion of California, and 33% have a very favorable opinion of New York. Among people who live in suburbs, 43% have a very favorable opinion of Hawaii and 30% have a very favorable opinion of Florida. Slightly fewer have very favorable opinions of Alaska (25%) and California (25%). People who live in towns are most likely to have very favorable opinions of Texas (32%), Florida (30%), and Montana (28%). The states that are viewed very favorably by the greatest of shares of Americans who live in rural areas are Florida (29%), Texas (27%), South Carolina (26%), and Tennessee (26%).
The state that city dwellers are most likely to view very unfavorably is Alabama (27%). California is the state seen very unfavorably by the largest shares of people who live in suburbs (27%), towns (30%), and rural areas (28%).
Democrats and Republicans have different views of several states, aligned with the partisan lean of those states. Among the biggest differences: 52% of Republicans and 13% of Democrats have a very favorable view on Florida. 45% of Republicans and 14% of Democrats have a very favorable view of Texas. 34% of Republicans and 8% of Democrats have a very favorable view of Wyoming.
States that Democrats are more likely than Republicans to view very favorably are California (49% vs. 12%), Hawaii (52% vs. 27%), Massachusetts (34% vs. 11%) and New York (36% vs. 15%).
57% of Republicans and 1% of Democrats view California very unfavorably. 34% of Republicans and 1% of Democrats view New York very unfavorably. 31% of Republicans and 3% of Democrats view the District of Columbia very unfavorably.
States that Democrats are more likely than Republicans to view very unfavorably include Florida (36% vs. 1%), Alabama (35% vs. 6%), and Texas (32% vs. 1%).
While the sample size in the poll for individual states is small — even for the most-populous states — it's evident that people living in the biggest and oft-divisive states are more likely to view them favorably. Among people who live in California, 82% have a favorable view of the state, including 58% who have a very favorable view of it. Among people who live in Texas, 74% have a favorable view of it, including 49% who have a very favorable view of their state. Florida residents are more likely to have a favorable view than an unfavorable one (72% vs. 28%). New Yorkers are also more likely to have a favorable view of their state than an unfavorable one (79% vs. 20%).
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See the results for this YouGov survey
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
Methodology: This article includes results from a poll conducted online among 2,073 U.S. adult citizens on two separate surveys from June 25 - 27, 2025 and June 26 - 30, 2025. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3%.
Image: Getty (Mario Tama / Staff)
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